Alzheimer's risk may be passed to kids

March 11, 2008 12:00:00 AM PDT

Researchers now have a clearer picture of whether Alzheimer's patients pass along the risk of the disease to their children.Researchers at the University of Washington studied more than 100 families in which both parents had Alzheimer's. They say they found 22 percent of those couples' children had the disease themselves.

And the risk grew with age; among offspring older than 60, more than 30 percent were affected. In those older than 70, nearly 42 percent had Alzheimer's.